Biden should follow his “killer” instinct

Mr. Trump has been widely condemned. But the willingness of US officials to ignore Russian crimes was bipartisan. When President Boris Yeltsin attacked Parliament with tanks in October 1993, Secretary of State Warren Christopher congratulated him on his victory. Despite Mr Putin’s reputation for links to organized crime, President Bush said in 2001 that he “looked the man in the eye” and “was able to feel his soul.” In July 2009, President Obama described Mr Putin as “sincere, fair and deeply interested in the interests of the Russian people” – despite the poisoning of former Russian agent Alexander Litvinenko in London in 2006. A British official investigation found that Mr Putin he was probably personally responsible for his poisoning.

To some extent, when it comes to Russia, American leaders are superficially afraid of what might find a serious effort to find out the truth. But the United States, as the guarantor of global stability, has a duty to gain full knowledge of the crimes of Russian leaders. Russia is led by about 100 people who control 35% of the country’s assets. With free rein, there are few limits to the actions they can take against the outside world.

Especially in three cases, the US should make every effort to understand and expose Russian crimes.

First, we need the truth about the February 27, 2015 assassination of Boris Nemtsov, Russia’s most important democratic leader, who was shot dead on the Bolshoi Moskvoretsky Bridge near the Kremlin. The official story was that Zaur Dadaev, a former officer of the Russian military forces based in Chechnya, with no connection to Nemtsov, shot him six times. Four other defendants allegedly witnessed the murder. The regime regularly promoted this version, and the United States tacitly accepted it.

However, the European Parliament cited evidence that Nemtsov was the victim of a regime operation – including the presence of suspects on the bridge who were never interviewed, the disappearance of the film from all nearby surveillance cameras and the fact that Nemtsov could only have been heard. by an intelligence service. Andrei Illarionov, a Russian economist, published evidence that Nemtsov was shot from two different weapons, not one as alleged in court, and the videotape confirmed that Mr. Dadaev was not on the bridge when Nemtsov was killed.

Nemstov is a hero to many Russians; the place where he was killed became a place of pilgrimage. But he was also important to the United States. He was one of Putin’s two opponents who was able to summon a crowd. The other is Alexei Navalny, recently imprisoned after being poisoned. Unlike Mr. Navalny, Nemtsov was an opponent of Russia’s nationalism and aggression against Ukraine. The United States owes all efforts to Russian Democrats to identify those responsible for his death.

We also need the truth about the destruction of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 on July 17, 2014, which killed 298 passengers and crew. The Putin regime made a disinformation effort after the plane was shot down over eastern Ukraine to create the impression that it had been accidentally destroyed by separatists. But the evidence points to Russia.

A Dutch criminal court has ruled that the Buk-M1 missile that hit MH17 was brought to Ukraine by the 53rd Russian anti-aircraft missile brigade. According to a report issued by Radio Liberty, the battery was accompanied by Russian intelligence officers. In a May 2020 interview with the Times of London, separatist leader Igor Girkin denied any involvement. Asked if he accused Russia, Mr Girkin said: “People can interpret this as they like.”

What is particularly worrying about the destruction of MH17 is that it appears to have been part of a political strategy. Putin called Obama immediately after the plane was shot down and, citing the danger to civilian aircraft, called for an end to the Ukrainian offensive that was rapidly advancing into separatist territory. Over the next 10 days, he made 24 appeals to Western leaders for the same purpose.

Finally, we need the truth about the September 1999 bombings that led to a new invasion of Chechnya and brought Mr Putin to power. More than 300 were killed in blasts in four buildings. Shortly afterwards, three Federal Security Service (FSB) agents were caught placing a fifth bomb in the basement of a building in Ryazan. The bomb, disarmed before it could explode, tested positive for hexogen, the explosive used in the four explosions. Other evidence that has accumulated over the years also indicates the FSB.

The US has never raised the question of why FSB agents were caught planting a bomb in the basement of an apartment building. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright declined to answer questions about the bombing by the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, saying only that “acts of terror have no place in a democratic society.” Russia has blamed the attacks on Chechen rebels. If the truth is not established, terror can become the way the power changes hands in Russia from now on.

Many critics in Russia focus on corruption, which is easy to understand. But the greater danger that the Putin regime poses to the world is a mentality that treats crime as a normal part of political life. The notion of human beings as completely expendable was born in socialism, with the abolition of private property and the conversion of the individual into state property. This idea is rooted in the minds of Russian leaders.

Russia responded to Mr Biden’s remarks by threatening “irreversible deterioration in relations”. But the path to better relations leads to the realization by Russian leaders that the rest of the world is determined to put an end to their crimes. The president must reverse decades of American political practice and act in accordance with the recognition of Mr Putin’s role. If not, the next murder of the Russian leader is only a matter of time.

Mr. Satter is the most recent author of “Never Talk to Foreigners and Other Writings in Russia and the Soviet Union,” and is an advisor to the Memorial Foundation for the Victims of Communism.